Fantasy Football Today - Start or Sit (AFC): Rhamondre Stevenson, Steelers RBs, Jaylen Waddle and More (12/25 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: December 25, 2025

Players we love (3:00) and players to avoid (7:30) for Week 17! We love Rhamondre Stevenson and Trevor Lawrence among others and we're avoiding Rico Dowdle and Justin Herbert this week. Who else is on the Avoid List? We've also got news and notes (12:10) including playoff clinching scenarios and whether or not the Steelers and Rams could rest their starters ... One Question for Each Game (25:05)! Are we starting DeVonta Smith? Bucky Irving? Jaylen Waddle? Juwan Johnson? ... Start or Sit for Texans-Chargers (29:30), Eagles-Bills (43:50), Bucs-Dolphins (51:00), Jaguars-Colts (1:01:00), Patriots-Jets (1:10:10), Steelers-Browns (1:18:00) and Saints-Titans (1:22:15) ... Email us at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Oh, hello everybody. Welcome to the show and Merry Christmas. It's Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM. Big it legendary. Thursday, December 25th, a festive show.

For those of you who are live watching with us, that's pretty cool. Hopefully you have an awesome holiday. Everybody at home, if you're listening today, tomorrow. We hope this whole week for you is fantastic. And obviously bring you fantasy football presents and championships for the holidays. Good morning, Dave Richard. Merry Christmas, Adam, Jamie, and everybody watching. Thank you for being with us.

You're not here for the Christmas spirit, though. You're here to kick some ass in your fantasy. leagues. That's what Christmas is all about. That's what this week is all about. And it starts today. I love it. Good morning, Jamie. Dave said it best. Let's go. I might have had some coffee this morning. Dave said a bad word or a naughty word. Oh, now I'm the one getting, getting yelled at or whatever you said called me. I can't believe you would do that, Dave. That's horrible. I've been good at apologizing this year. I'd like to send a heartfelt apology to everybody for my language christmas morning i will try and refrain from doing so on this holy day

tis the season all right so let's get to the players we love and players to avoid two players each jamie you love trevor lawrence against the colts stephan diggs against the eagles yeah lawrence is start of the week uh obviously recognizing what he's done for the last five games the last two games over 90 fantasy points so he's obviously on fire and taking on a coles defense. He already scored 23 fantasy points against. They just gave up five touchdowns to Brock Purdy. It should be an awesome game for Lawrence top five quarterback for me this week. And Stefan Diggs, he needs another four catches for half a million dollars, another hundred, I think it's 139 yards for another $500,000.

So he's chasing incentives plus good matchup, plus opportunity should be there for him, especially if Kishan Booty does not play. He did not practice on Wednesday. DeMario Douglas was limited in practice. So they could be down a couple of receivers, but looks like at least one, and he already went for over 100 yards against his Jets defense in week 11. So love the setup for him, love the setup for Lawrence, and both should be great. I think I said he was facing the Eagles, but he's no longer on the bills, Stefan Diggs. Just checked, he's actually on the Patriots now.

He's on the Viking. And they're on the Viking. They're facing the Jets. Okay. Dave, speaking of facing the Jets, Ramandre Stevenson, you know, as it looked, Trevian Henderson was limited. He and Jordan Love, at least, are getting limited sessions in with the concussions. Maybe they have a chance to play.

We're treating Remandre right now as if Trevion is out. I was almost surprised to see he was only about 15th or so in the rankings, but you like Ramandre Stevenson at the Jets and Caleb Williams at the Niners. I have a hard time moving him into the top 10, but he is 15th for me at running back. I will like him less if Travion Henderson plays. That goes without saying, but he would still be a strong flex play. the Jets have allowed almost 23 PPR points to a lead running back in three of their past five games. Since they traded away Quinn and Williams, this is an outstanding matchup.

And remember, one of those games last week against the Saints, they didn't allow those numbers to a running back. They allowed them to a tight end. So I think that there's definitely an opportunity for Remandre with a featureback workload to come through for fantasy managers. And if you had told me after the first 58 minutes of the Bears game last week that Caleb Williams would be on my love list, I would have said that you're crazy. But he put it together in the last two minutes and ended up having a really good fantasy game. But that's not the reason why I'm starting him. I'm starting him because he's taking on the 49ers. They just allowed Philip Rivers to throw two touchdowns against them and have over 20 fantasy points against them.

And it should be a high scoring game in San Francisco on Sunday. I think the game is San Francisco. You can correct you. It is. It is. Cool. But bottom line is Caleb Williams is in a spot where I think he can be a top 10 quarterback this week. and come through for fantasy managers getting a lot of numbers.

I know not having Romo Dunes at least as now it looks that way. That's going to sing, but it didn't sing last year. Damn it! It's the game of the week, yeah. I really just hit the wrong button. But it's the Niners and the Bears Sunday night. And it's the game of the week. Hey! Do you want a fun Caleb Williams' potential milestone?

He's 600 yards away from 4,000 yards. No, I don't. I'm pissed that I hit the wrong button. But wow, that would be amazing. That'd be the first ever. First time ever. So does, you know, he hasn't had a 300 yard game this season. His best is 298.

So he's sitting on 3,400 yards. It'd be awesome if Ben Johnson just was like, F it. Let's just go throw the ball all over the place and see if we can get this done. That's, uh, but the problem is that I'm not sure if they have to do that because the 49ers run defense hasn't been great. They were, they got better last week.

Bethune was back and, and they'll be able to run the ball. We'll talk about that game more tomorrow. But if you're making a line of decision, based on something happening on Thursday. I think Swift has a good game, too. I really like almost everybody in this game between the Niners and the Bears.

All right, Sunday, don't forget. So listen, we're going to monitor the weather. We're going to monitor injuries. So the things you hear today might be outdated by the time Sunday comes around. So please join us at 11 a.m. Eastern until 1 p.m. Eastern for start or sit at YouTube.com slash fantasy football today. You can ask your questions.

We answer a ton of them. We get a ton of them. So we don't answer all of them. But please, YouTube.com slash fantasy football today. our last Sunday morning episode. Players to avoid. Dave, you're saying Rico,

I could not, I could not be more done with Rico Dowdell. He's facing Seattle. And Zayf, I'm mad about it. And Zay Flowers against Green Bay on Saturday.

I don't like the track record of Tyler Huntley's, um, target rates to non receivers when he's played. And he's been in the league since 2020. And granted, he's a backup. so he only has so many

games as a starter. Only twice in his career has he connected with a wide receiver for 15 or more fantasy points. Say Flowers came close last week and a half, or not close 11 PPR points last week. And I think he had another game with him. Whereas around 14,

that's flex territory. I'm cool with Flowers as a flex, but every time I go to update my rankings, I find myself just moving Zay Flowers down a little bit more each time because of the downgrade of quarterback. Obviously, if Lamar Jackson recovers ends up playing in the game,

it's a huge game for Baltimore, I'm going to be a big fan of Zayflowers. But until that happens, he's a flex play at best. And then, I mean, you kind of summarize it with Rico. We're tired of him. He was a 60-40 split in terms of carries with Chuba Hubbard last week. Chuba dominated on third downs. I believe he dominated inside the 10 as well, but they just didn't have that many chances. Now it's Seattle.

It's a run defense that's been good all the way around. This is not going to be a spot where I feel comfortable with Rico Dowdall having some breakway runs. I believe Seattle is one of the run defenses that allows the fewest explosive rush rates over the course of not just the last four weeks, but over the course of the season. And that makes Dowdell someone that I would try and set. That's another guy chasing a big incentive. He's 70 total yards away from a million dollars.

I agree with you. He should try to avoid him this week. So hopefully he gets it in the next two games for his sake. But yeah, that's a big payday if he can get there. Yeah, because he didn't sign that big of a contract. So that's big. Okay. Yeah, I recommended Blake Corum over Rico Dowdell.

Then I reconsidered because Dowdell at least could get you like four or five catches. But that's kind of where I'm at. I mean, they're kind of like the same guy at this point. Touchdown defendant. Right. And one of them is averaging like almost two more yards per carry basically over the last month or so. More than that. Okay, Jamie, you're saying you want to avoid Marvin Harrison Jr.

against the Bengals and Justin Herbert against Houston. Yeah. In the case of Marvin, we'll see how much more he plays. 29 snaps last week, only got three targets, only the one catch. I'm sure, I know I would, a little bit, but I'm sure we all would feel differently if he caught that touchdown. But he's facing a Bengals team that we know has been great against opposing wide receivers. Fourth best in terms of fewest fantasy points to the position.

We'll see if DJ Turner stays on him or Wilson or just stays on the side. But obviously, Harrison, not at 100%. Who was the second guy? I forgot it. Justin Herbert against Houston. Yeah, Herbert, look, I wish he could play Dallas every week. Um, that's, uh, that was fun to watch. We saw what Herbert can look like.

I, I still think, I'm, I'm sure I'm not alone in this, that if they had a healthy offensive line, they may be the best team in football right now. Just defense is playing great. Obviously, Herbert's had a fantastic season, um, but they can't protect them, you know, consistently. And now here comes the Texans. Number one, in terms of fewest total yards allowed, uh, defensively, tied for sixth and sacks for 41.

And they clearly did a fantastic job against him in the playoffs last year, four interceptions, for sacks. It was not a pretty performance against this defense. And so we've seen the track record for him so far since the offensive line fell apart. Prior to Dallas, five straight game and 16 fantasy points or less, this is not going to be a great game for Justin Herbert. Who is the last quarterback to do well against Houston? Jacoby Brissette. How did he do it? Yeah, he threw a ton and he threw a lot of it in the fourth quarter. Right. And so I almost think that's what has to happen in order for Justin Herbert to be really good for fantasy. And we've already seen a game this year

when the Chargers are trailing, they're just getting blown out. Remember the Jacksonville game? They pulled everybody. And so I don't think there's a chance. They're not getting blown out by the Texas. Garbage time. No, these are two of the best deep. This should be a really, really good game, but maybe not for fantasy. Right.

Listen, that's possible too. But it's time for football at BetMGM. Register with BetMGM. You're going to get instant access to a variety of parlay selection features, live betting options, boost tokens, and the best daily promotions in the business. And when you huddle up with BetMGM at your fingertips, every pass, every catch, and every game matter more than ever.

Don't miss out on any of the hard-hitting action. Place your money line, prop, and parlay bets with BetMGM today. And remember to use that bonus code fantasy when you sign up. Are we got a couple of pretty big storylines here as we look at the news and notes? there are two teams that may have pretty much nothing to play for by the time they play this week. That's the Rams who play Monday and the Steelers who play Sunday. If the Ravens lose on Saturday, correct me if I'm wrong. Not only do the Steelers win the division, but they're locked into their seed.

I don't think they can get a top three seed. So I think I'm right about that. Well, they won't be ahead of the AFC West. They won't be ahead of the AFC East. and the best they could do is Well, I don't know. Actually, they're 9 and 6 and the Jaguars are 11 and 4,

so I don't know who would have the tiebreaker. So I could be wrong. If they win out and go 11 and 6 and the Jags lose out and go out, maybe they could be the 3 or the 4. But they'd win the division. That's for sure. And then you've got the Rams

who could be locked into a wild card spot if, what, the Seahawks and the Niners win? Yeah, they both have to win. Okay. So are we making any starter sit decisions based on these scenarios, Jamie? Not as of now. I think the ones that you worry about, Jalen Warren, is on the injury report.

And if he's not 100%, do they pull back on him and maybe play Caleb Johnson a little bit more in a game that they don't really have to do much to win anyway based on how the Browns are operating? That's one that makes me a little bit concerned. I don't think they're going to sit Aaron Rogers. Nobody's playing Aaron Rogers, especially without D.K. Metcalf there. So that's one you watch for in Pittsburgh. In the case of the Rams, I mean, maybe that's a Blake Quorum game more so than a Kyrin Williams game. If that's a route they decide to go.

Remember, Stafford is still in the MVP race. And they're going to give him the chance to go out and get it. Now, what that means potentially is do they pull him in the second half if they're up and don't give him a chance to maybe pat his stats even more? You know, so we've seen them. You know, you go back to the Jaguars game, for example, in London. goes out and has a big first half. I don't remember if they pulled him in that game,

but he can get his numbers early on what I'm getting it. He can get his numbers early in the game. So if that's going to happen, you're still starting him. I just think it's so minute in terms of what you would consider doing at this point. You know, you're not going to sit Pooka because if staffer's going to play, obviously Pooko is going to be out there. You're not going to sit, Kyron, unless we know something. You're not going to sit the Steelers running backs unless we know something.

You know, there's not that many guys that we're talking about here. So I think as of now Thursday morning, you know, we're, we're still starting everybody. Okay, but Stafford's always interesting because of where he was drafted or picked up. Then people could have Burrow or Stafford. They could clearly have Lawrence or Stafford. They could have DAC or Stafford. And you guys have Stafford ranked.

I think he's one through three for you two and Heath. So I guess I'll just, people, you have to see how risk averse you want to be. If you want to start someone who's ranked very similar to Matthew Stafford because of this scenario. That's a totally fair argument, regardless of sitting him, if they're going to sit him or not. Yeah, of course, right. It might be a tiebreaker for you. But it's got to be someone great. I mean, you're not starting Caleb Williams over him.

Okay, it has to be someone in the top five. So we find out, let's say, you know, Sean McVe says, yeah, we're going to watch the game and then we're going to be cautious with our guys depending on the score. Like you get something that there's maybe a hint of this could happen. So we got that question, I think it was yesterday. Who am I sitting out of Chris Olavet, George Pickens, or maybe it was just those two. So we were like speculating.

You know, maybe they have JSN, Puka, or one of these guys. So, like, if you have those situations and you're that lucky, then maybe you consider something like that. There's no, I don't know about any, I'll speak for myself. I don't have the type of rosters. I'm in nine finals. I don't have the type of rosters where I'm sending Pooka to go. No, no, definitely not.

And another move you could make if you wanted to is if you've got Stafford, see if Kirk Cousins is available, Kerry Cousins on the bench. And that way, if you get to the game on Monday and Stafford's inactive. I might go to a report comes out that says, Stafford isn't going to play or he's only going to play two drives, whatever, then you can pivot to Kirk Cousins. But Cousins has to be available. And if not, then Garoppolo maybe should be on your bench just in case.

But I'll say this, teams game plan all week long. It would be very weird for the Rams to game plan and prep for Stafford and the whole offense to play. And then suddenly at the end, they pull the plug. And then it's a bunch of second stringers going in there and play when they didn't prep the same way all week long. So I would guess that the worst case scenario is Stafford sits in the second half because the game goes one way or another. And teams don't want to rest three weeks out. Right, right, exactly. Right.

Very fair. Although if this were Week 18, knowing Sean McPhase history, he would for sure arrest these guys. Oh, Week 18 is a different conversation. Yeah, totally. But it's not. And I'll tell you something else. If it ends up happening where Stafford is a surprise inactive and people, and Pooka is too, and people really get. screwed in their fantasy final,

you're going to see leagues go back to a week 16 championship really soon, really fast, I mean. Okay, incentives is the other storyline here. And we'll talk about that after we take a little break. We've got to talk about Jamie's already mentioned a couple, Stefan Diggs, Rico Dowdell. What other incentives do we need to know about going into week 16?

We'll be right, 17, 17. Dave got me. I mean, it's all screwed up with the week 16 final thing. We'll be right back on fantasy football tomorrow. Ready to level up. Chumba Casino is your playbook to fun. It's free to play with no purchase necessary. Enjoy hundreds of online social games like blackjack, slots, and solitaire.

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Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531-2,600, to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BenMGGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Jamie, any other incentives to know about? Oh, there's a lot between milestones and incentives off top of my head. I can look it up if you want me to.

Yeah, I guess maybe just have it available when it comes to your mind. When it comes up, you know, let us know. I will say that Mike Evans needs to average I think 349 yards in his last two games. So we're keeping that in mind to get to 1,000 yards. That was a joke. Ha, ha, ha. He's not going to average that. So anyway, that's what I got.

Now, a quarterback, Lamar Jackson, still missing practice. They said he doesn't have to practice in order to play. They play on Saturday at Green Bay. Josh Johnson's starting in a few hours for the commanders. His left tackle, Laramie Tunsell's out. Philip Rivers is going to start for the Colts. J.J. McCarthy's out today. Jordan Love, still in the concussion protocol, but he remains limited.

Right now, we're thinking it's going to be Malik Willis against Baltimore. Running back, Jordan Mason out today. Aaron Jones is off the injury report. Josh Jacobs was limited with the knee issue. We're keeping an eye on it. Samson was limited. So actually, in terms of WaverWire running backs, I guess bad news, because Samson came back, Woody Marks practiced in full.

So I don't know that Samson's going to play. He was only limited, but at least he did practice. No Camara practice. Basil Tutin was limited. That was interesting. I didn't think he'd be back this soon. It doesn't mean he'll play it this week, but it's probably seeing practicing. Kamani Vidal missed practice, and that's a Saturday game.

So right now we're thinking no Vidal. And Trayvion Henderson, hopefully making. some progress he's been limited he's in the concussion protocol they play sunday at the jets so there's really only three big ones um offensively at least i see um no way i i take that back the three big ones are sam darnold um rico dowdell and digs and digs the what i what i reference was he's four catches away from another 500 thousand dollars he's a hundred and thirty one yards away from another 500 thousand dollars so his escalators kick in every 10 catches starting at 70 so he's at So four more gives him another half a million.

And then his yardage kicks in at $1,000. Right now he's sitting at $8.69. Okay. Kendrick Bourne has some incentives. Debo Samuel has some incentives that he's trying to catch. I mean, Khalil Shakir gets $150,000 for every touchdown. For his next two touchdowns. What a great deal by the bills.

Juan Jennings gets a lot of money for, his receptions and receiving yards. So he gets $666,000 for 60 receptions and the same for receiving yards. And right now, 600 receiving yards right now, he's sitting at 49 catches and 566 yards. Ooh, Hunter Henry gets $250,000 if he gets three more catches. He'll get that. Yeah, Ken and Allen has a bunch also. Pollard's got one for rushing yardage.

Yeah, Tony Pollard's probably going to need two games to get his 250K. He'll get it. 151 yards. All right. Back to the news and notes. Yeah, keep an eye on Amon Ross St. Brown. He expects to play today. Devante Adams may be shut down for the rest of the regular season, according to Jeremy Fowler.

Ricky Pearsall was limited. Okay, we'll talk about that game in a little bit. Keep an eye on Ryan Flanoi today. Romo Dunes a mispractice, but Luther Burden was limited. So we'll talk about that situation. Kashan Booty's still in the concussion protocol that Tampa Bay apparently wants to get a meca more involved. We're previewing that game today.

AJ Brown had his wisdom teeth removed should be fine maybe a little chubby in the face Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs both practiced in full Pat Bryant is out Rishie Rice is out for the season T.J. Hawkinson is out today

Brock Bowers? What the hell is that? I was like what? Brock Bowers is out for the season Tankathon against the Giants. Remember the injury he had in week one? Yeah. Yeah, it stayed with him all year ago. Yeah, let's keep that in mind in draft season next year.

George Kittle, sprained ankle, may not play. You really need to make plans. Jake Ton just could be an okay backup if you're desperate. Dalton Schultz was limited. David Nujoku missed practice. Let's see. So the Giants had two offensive linemen missing practice. Minnesota center Ryan Kelly is out today.

Carolina left tackle Ikea Kwanu practiced in full. That's big for them. On the other side of the ball. And they get Robert Huntback, too. Oh, nice. Charles Cross, the Seattle. a left tackle. I don't know this week,

but they opened the window for him to return. Tampa Bay left tackle, Tristan Worf's has a toe injury. Jacksonville offensive lineman, Patrick McCarrey may not play. Isaac Samaloo looks like he could return for the Steelers. But are the Texans going to be

without both of their tackles this week? Yeah, well, I think Ursery for sure. I don't know about Trent Brown, but there's a legitimate chance they're down both their starting tackles. Yeah, wow. And Quinn and Williams is questionable.

We still don't know about him. We'll know soon enough. Here's one. T.J. Edwards. He's been the key to the Bears run defense. Terrible without him. Great with him. He missed practice with a glute injury.

They're at San Francisco. Okay, I mean, it's McCaffrey. But, oh, the Patriots. I think this is one of the biggest injury situations to watch if you're going to trust Brees Hall. But they've got a ton of injuries, including defensive tackle, Kairis Tonga and two linebackers, including their leading tackle. They've been missing a lot of those defensive guys for, like, much of the last three weeks,

but Milton Williams might be back. Yeah, Milton was going to say that. He has 21 days to be activated. And Denzel Perriman being out for the Chargers is a huge deal, as we'll talk about shortly here. All right, one question for each game. Houston is at the Chargers. And I will say that the Chargers allowed 5.1 yards per carry to running backs from weeks one through six with Denzel Perryman out for basically all of that.

Dave, do you trust anyone in this game, Houston at the Chargers? Several people. Nico Collins, I would trust. Dalton Schultz, I would trust. That doesn't mean I would trust CJ Stroud, whatever. And then for the Chargers, it's Omari and Hampton, especially if Kamani Vidal is out. And it's Ladd-McConkie. Endless.

It's funny to trust four people in that game, but I get it. That's the first game we'll get in depth on. Philadelphia is at Buffalo, and this is a weather game to watch. Just keep an eye on the weather throughout the week. It might be a little nasty. Jamie Start or sit, Devante Smith at Buffalo. Low end number two receiver.

As per usual, I guess he's probably in there with the tough calls we had yesterday, the Tetero-McMillins, A-Flowers group. Yeah, I put McConkey in there, too. Same. Yeah. Ugh, hate wide receiver. Tampa Bay is at Miami.

Jalen Waddle or Bucky Irving, Dave, who's a better start? Speaking of wide receivers that you want to hate, I will lean toward Bucky. I guess I haven't learned my lesson yet. However, it is a favorable matchup against Miami's run defense. They got stomped last week. And I bet time of possession favors Tampa in this game. And my hunch is that they try and run the ball a lot again, second week in a row. So give me Bucky over Waddle.

Jacksonville's out to Colts. I think that the receivers in this game, Jamie, we didn't bring them up yet. Yesterday has the tough calls. To me, one of the hardest to figure out any position, you know, whatever, in this slate. Rank the wide receivers in this game, Jacksonville at Indianapolis. Jacobi Myers 1, Brian Thomas 2, Alec Pierce, 3, Parker, Washington, 4, Michael Pittman 5, Josh down 6. Dave, do you have any strong agreement or disagreement on that order? The only nitpick would be Pierce over Brian Thomas Jr.

I'd rather, you're starting two high upside receivers, deep ball receivers either way. I'd rather have Pierce. Thomas' history against the Colts. It's only three games, but it's pretty fantastic. And the easy one is Myers first. I did a Twitter poll. Who do you prefer Brian Thomas Jr. or Parker Washington? And 56% actually said Parker Washington.

And last thing on that, because we'll get to it later. The Colts, so Parker Washington is their sloc guy. And Brian Thomas Jr. is their job. deep threat now. So who's got a better matchup? Well, the Colts, they allow, sorry. I think the most wide receiver yards out of the slide. The most receiving yards to slot wide receivers.

Good for Parker, Washington. But they also allow the six most catches of 20 or more air yards. Go for Brian Thomas Jr. It's a great matchup in general. All right. One question for each game continues with New England at the Jets. Dave, if Travion Henderson plays, would you start any running back in this game? I'd start Henderson and I'd start remandre as a flex.

Would you start remandre over Brees Hall? I think I might. Okay. I would. Okay. Pittsburgh's at Cleveland. Again, this is another weather game. Please check the weather on this one.

Jamie, which Steelers run, both of you? Which Steelers running back do you prefer? Gainwell and PPR, Warren, and half and none. I've got Warren ahead in both. However, if there's a chance that the Steelers maybe rest players that aren't 100%. Jamie mentioned it earlier in the show, that would make me flip to gain well overworn. But they're both top 24 running backs. New Orleans is at Tennessee.

A stat I came across that didn't love, Dave, are you worried that Joanne Johnson? Because he's ranked really high this week. He only had a 19% target share last week. They threw almost 50 times. Is that concern you at all? No, not at all. in fact 19% for a tight end is pretty good it is it is just you know people oh devon vali didn't play he got eight or nine targets well they threw the ball a ton so just want to bring that up it's also the first game that they didn't have any of their top three running backs too uh yes also i didn't see foster morrow's status did he practice yes did not practice okay all right let's go to the games either did camero by the way yeah i did say that one houston's at the chargers This is, you're going to love this one, fantasy managers.

Since week eight, these two teams are first and second in yards per game allowed. And shockingly, remember I brought this up yesterday, the Saints are third. Incredible. Damn, there goes my Titans championship. It's weird. I mean, the Titans' offense has been humming a little bit lately, and the Saints' defense has been humming lately. Okay, but anyway, the Chargers and the Texans here, I mentioned the Denzel Perriman thing. He's out for the Chargers, and they allowed 5.1 yards per carry to running backs.

so without him earlier this year. All right. Sit Stroud. But Jamie, let's talk about the Texans running backs here. And if you can trust them in what might be a good matchup. It might be a good matchup. Well, it is a good matchup because Perryman's not playing. He's suspended.

So I think just you have to talk your way into a few things. Got to talk your way into is Woody Marks still their best running back? Because what we've seen for the last two games is Joward Jordan doing basically almost the identical thing last week that Woody Marks had done the entirety of his stretch as a starter, which is get a lot of work but not have a lot, not have a great yards per carry and just kind of cobble his way to a good game. But the fact that now there's another guy in the mix, I don't know if they're just going to go back to Woody Marks with the 17 carries per game that he was getting in the five games prior to his injury. Will we see now three guys getting

touches because of Nick Chubbs still being there? That's the way I am approaching it. And it feels like it's messy. So I think at best, the fact that it's a good matchup, you look at Marks as a flex because the hope would be is that he goes back to his original role. But there's no certainty that that is going to be the case at all. So two tackles potentially missing, offense coming off a struggling game against a mediocre defense, now facing a great defense. Like this just feels like a heavyweight boxing match where we're going to see these two teams, like you said, if you like two good teams facing each other that aren't going to score a lot, this is the type of game for you.

Yeah, I'm into it. And then for Nico, I think it's probably one of those players that, you know, you kind of have to start, but you're going to do it nervously. You wouldn't start like Terry McLauran over Nico, would you? No. They're very close. They're very close. Would you like some names of receivers I would start over Nico?

Olivae seems easy at this point. T. Higgins, Cortland Sutton, Joanne Jennings. I'm into Joanne Jennings. I think that's still going to be a high scoring game. I talked about that already. I do draw the line at Mike Evans, Michael Wilson, DJ Moore, Jameson Williams, Williams plays on Thursday, Drake London, Tetaroa. Not those guys.

Give me Nico over those guys, but he's more of a low-end number one receiver. That's what the expectation is. You're going to start him anyway. It's Nico Collins for crying out of lap. The only one I would disagree with is I would go Evans over him, too. And Nico is the number 11 wide receiver per game. Is this a tough matchup? I mean, we've seen, like, A.J. Brown and George Pickens have huge games against the Chargers recently.

It's the offensive tackles being out that makes, that scares me. Last week was a horrible game for Nico, but that was really on C.J. Stroud. He could have had easily a 100-yard game against the Chargers. Sorry, against the Raiders. This just came across. If you're desperate, Chris Rodriguez was just added to the injury report with an illness. So if Quinn and Williams is out and Rodriguez is out, Merry Christmas Bill. Oh, it's Bill time.

Okay. Dalton Schultz is about seventh-ish in the rankings. I think he's seventh for you guys. He's ninth for Heath. He's, you know, the Chargers allow the fifth fewest fantasy points to tight ends, but their last four games. Brock Bowers had a huge game. Dallas Goddard scored almost 16 fantasy points. Travis Kelsey scored 14 PPR fantasy points. Jake Ferguson struggled. But I think, if I remember correctly, Ferguson was open for a touchdown. Dak missed him. That didn't see. So Schultz is a start for us over. How many Saints tight ends would you start Dalton Schultz over? Like ranked Saints, tight ends and Schultz, Dave. Joanne Johnson, Dalton Schultz, Tase him hell. Jamie, same? Yeah. Okay.

All right, Justin Herbert is 13th for Dave and Heath, 17th for Jamie. Try to get away from Herbert. Tyler Shuck or Herbert? Shuck for me. I believe I have Herbert a couple of spots ahead of Shuck. How about Bryce Young against Seattle or Justin Herbert?

Herbert. Herbie. Dart or Herbert? Dart for me. Herbert. Next up, Chargers, running backs. Okay. So I gave this stat on Beyond the Box score.

The running backs who have averaged 50, who have had 15 or more touches against the Texans this year. have averaged 14.6 PPR fantasy points per game. It's a very good number. However, the ones who have only had 15 to 17 touches have never even scored 12 points per game.

So you pretty much need more than that. Hopefully you get that from Hampton. Personally, I thought the Texans run defense against Genti last week was excellent, except for the long play. I don't think the final box score would indicate the Texans run defense quality. Personal opinion.

So it's not looking at this as a good matchup at all. But if Vidal is out, Jamie, what's your enthusiasm level for Omari and Hampton? I mean, relatively high. You know, you're just talking about a guy that in limited snaps for a good portion of last week's game before the Vidal injury and he got injured in the fourth quarter. And in the first game that he returned, just from a production standpoint, when he was in the game, they used him. So the snap count, not great, but when he was on the field, they used him.

And I thought he got to the edge very well last week against the Cowboys, especially late in the game. I think they now see, okay, we can give him a little bit more work because of, A, the injury, but B, he's now, you know, got probably his legs underneath him after the seven games that he missed with the foot injury. And this feels like the way to attack the Texans, if you're going to have some success, because throwing on them just feels like a nightmare when your offensive lines is a mess. And their defense is so good at getting to the quarterback. So when those guys get up field, you know, you get past the initial pass rush, you know, you're dealing with their linebackers, that's not easy,

but it's easier than just, you know, letting Justin Herbert stand back there and get pummeled. So I think they're going to try and run O'Marion Hampton as much as they can. And I do think that we'll see a spike in the passing game if Kamani Vidal is not there. So there's two ways that Hampton can win. I love your stat about, you know, the amount of touches because I think that's what you're going to get. You know, I don't think this is a Hassan Haskins, Jared Patterson game. Like, this is a game where you feed Omar and Hampton as much as you possibly can,

and hopefully he holds up. So if he was running well all the way through, we probably have him ranked or I probably have him ranked somewhere in the top of 10. I think you've got to be a little bit cautious. Offensive line is still a concern. Obviously great defense. Number two running back for this week. Okay.

Remandre or Hampton? Hampton. Oh, Ramondre, if he's the only guy there against Jets. Assuming both of them are the only guys. Yeah. Okay. It's a good little debate. All right, Dave, try to sell me on a...

One guy's taking on paper. All the paper? Well, I mean, I guess the issue is that the Texans and Chargers play on Saturday, and we would have to know Travion status by that game. Try to sell me on Ladd-McConkie. Short area target, explosive receiver. He can win downfield, too. It is a difficult matchup against Houston.

I thought that their secondary was pretty dang good last week against Vegas, but it's Vegas. And the reason why I'm a little bit more bullish on Justin Herbert than Jamie is not to say that he's a top 12 quarterback is because he's just, he has balled out despite the offensive line issues since week 10. It hasn't shown up in fantasy numbers per se, but he's making throws and keeping plays alive and evading the pass rush. And he's doing it every week. The offensive line isn't helping him. He's still finding guys open downfield. I don't think he's going to have this kind of time that he had last week against Dallas. That means he's got to get the ball out fast.

That helps O'Mary in Hampton, by the way, who's been a big time target for Justin Herbert when he's been under pressure. McConkey hasn't been quite as big time of a target, but he's still among the tops on the team. He's way ahead of the other wide receivers, for example. So I'm good with him, especially in a week where there are so many questions at wide receiver. and we know that McConkey can just he can do anything that the team asks he's overcome the real slow start that he added the season I think you trust him again but he has six targets in or fewer in seven straight games you know and they just don't really throw that much and I don't see that they would have to throw that much in this game and it's the Texans he's a he's a poor man's Nico Collins like you're starting him because of what you hope he can be he just has not performed like Nico Collins so I don't want to start Ladd-McConkie in every scenario, but most likely I'm going to start him because I don't have a lot of better options. And that being said, Michael Wilson should have a better game than Ladd-McConkey.

Joanne should have a better game than Ladd-McConkie. I would start Jalen Waddle over Ladd-McConkey based on what I saw last week in his matchup against Tampa Bay. So you start to go down the sliding scale. That's why I would say he's more in that conversation of, can you trust him or Teddoroa and McMillan? I'd go McMillan. Can you trust him or, I forget. at the entire list of guys that you mentioned.

I would rather start Jacoby Myers than Ladd-McConkie because of who he's facing. And Myers has been better since joining the Jaguars than McConkey has been in that stretch. Yeah. Okay. And we're not going to start any other Chargers past catchers, right? No, you can't. I mean, not with any confidence. You've got to be pretty desperate to throw Quentin Johnson out there as a boomer bus flex.

Or Gadsden, for that matter. I mean, Gadsden's just... Yeah, you can do a lot better than Gadsden at tight end. You like the DSTs in this game? Yeah, I mean, especially if we're figuring that it's going to be a medium to low-scoring game. Yeah. I mean, the chargers are coming off a pretty impressive stretch, and now you're talking about CJ Stroud struggling and offensive line issues.

And then the Texans have just been world beaters, and now you're facing a team that gives up a lot of sacks and should be a low-scoring game. So, yeah, both these guys, both these defenses are in play. All right, let's read some questions from the chat. Flex 1 and PPR, Hampton, Jalen Warren, Michael Wilson. Hampton. Yeah, I probably have Wilson ranked the highest right now, but I think I'm talking myself on Hampton.

Yeah, but remember, if Vidal plays, the answer's not going to be Hampton. So everything is without Vidal. If I Del did play, would Hampton be a top 24 back? Yes. Yeah.

Okay, because we're probably not going to... I'm sure that Michael Wilson is going to keep up with... He didn't have a lot of targets last week. He certainly didn't have a lot of catches. Well, they didn't throw as much as they normally do. We're expecting... I'm expecting this to be a 40 to 40 past... Sure, sure, sure.

But that's the one thing that's been consistent when Marvin Harrison has been healthy. Michael Wilson hasn't had tons of targets. Right, but neither of them. It scares me just a little bit. All right, yeah, that's, sorry, back to this game here. Start two in standard scoring. Jonathan Taylor, Kairn Williams, R.J. Harvey, and Hampton, Ramandre Stevenson. My goodness.

Harvey and Hampton. Harvey and Taylor. Rank Jowar, Jordan, Romeo Dobbs, Quintonton, Johnston, non-P-R. Oh. Dobbs, Jordan, Johnston. That, I, yeah, that sounds about right. Pick a DST, Giants against the Raiders, Cowboys,

at the commanders, Chargers, or Bucks? Chargers. Okay. Sit one. Hampton, Bucky, Sutton, Pippins. Bucky. That's Bucky. Now, if Vidal played, would you go Hampton or Bucky?

Still Hampton. I think I'd go Hampton. Okay. I accidentally bought gluten-free pancake mix this morning. Got to use it. That's what it feels like starting Woody Marks this week. I love it. All right, we're going to take a break.

Philadelphia is at Buffalo. And I hear the kids and my wife are cooking something up in the kitchen right now. I'm excited. We're not going to be pancakes. I think we've got like Eggs Benedict this morning. Oh, fired up. are we going to end this show in five minutes. We'll be right back on fantasy football today.

Welcome back. Philadelphia is a line from the commercial I used to always look with when Knuckles would say no. No. No. Philadelphia Buffalo. No, no. Okay, so the Eagles have allowed 24 or more points

in five games this season. And Jalen Hertz has 32 or more past attempts in four of those five games. That's awesome. But can the bills get there? Dave, do you think the bills are going to, put up points because they've struggled sometimes against good defenses.

The Eagles have had a really good defense. It looks like they're going to get Jalen Carter back. And, you know, I think about the Packers scored. The Packers and Lions scored, I think, less than 20 combined points against the Eagles, for example. So, and Josh Allen is lower than he usually is. He's got this foot injury. He's about fifth or sixth in the rankings.

So what do you think about the score? The total is only 44 in this game for Eagles of Bills. And there's weather issues for the game as well. Look, I'm not saying that, Allen should be benched this week and fantasy managers that have Josh Allen like you made it this far you're going to start him but I I think the foot injury impacted him way more than he led on last week it happened right before I have time and in the second half he completed 50% of his passes for 44 yards six of 12 he didn't look good didn't really run that much he dove a bunch and he took a couple of kneel downs but he he didn't run like we used to and so or that we're used to sing and so I'm I'm a little hesitant about him, especially with Jalen Carter back, especially with the Eagles defense playing how they've been playing. I think you do have to lower expectations for Josh Allen.

And that's why he's not a top five quarterback. For example, for me, I'd rather start Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy. These are famous last words, no question. But I think that those guys deserve to have a little bit more confidence than Josh Allen, given his current situation. okay and he has struggled at times in tough matchups he was you know great against baltimore in week one and i think they were pretty good defensively but uh he was bad at atlanta when they were good um he was great against chaps who's terrible at houston and last week for what it's worth the

rounds are a top ten team against quarterbacks and scored six point nine fantasy points against them and the eagles have done their fair share of good work against good quarterbacks all right he is higher than jaylon hertz though so jamie jaylin hertz is starter sees like like I think eighth or ninth in the rankings, but how do you feel about Hertz this week? I think you're going to get a good to moderately great Jalen Hertz game. The bill is also very good against quarterbacks too. So, you know, keep that in mind. This is going to be really which guy is going to put on their Superman cape and deliver the best performance. You know, it obviously could be the running backs because they're very good and they're

facing teams that Eagles without Jalen Carter have not been the same run defense. So keep that in mind, you're not benching James Cook. Clearly, the Bill's run defense has been bad the majority of the season. They've definitely gotten better in the last month, but still the weakness of this defense. So you should expect Saquanne Barclay to have a good game, but we know that that's not always been the case. So I think you just treat Jalen Hurts almost the same way like you treat Josh Allen. You're not benching him unless you're really sold on the other guys. And I agree with the two guys Dave mentioned in terms of Trevor Lawrence and Brock Purdy. Jacoby Brissette is in the conversation. That's another game. You've got to keep an eye on.

weather there as well. So just take that into account. But, um, like, I have to make this call and I'm going back and forth. And they're back to back in my rankings right now. Hertz is one spot ahead. So of Brissette, for those of you not watching. Hurt's a Brescent. I may flip that, um, myself. So, how about this one, Jamie? Hertz or Bonix? I go hurts. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's just one of those scenarios where he's, he's hopefully going to be good enough to stay in the range that he usually is. And by that, I mean, 23 plus fantasy points. I don't think he'll be horrible um but you know we always get those bonuses with the tush push we always get those you know big plays are on the table i i think right now that jalen hertz is just good enough like we we

we said this early in the week that there's about 10 quarterbacks that we really like this week uh so i would start him still ahead of caleb williams um i think i have baker right in that range too i'd start him ahead of baker um i would definitely start him ahead of golf and herbert you know just based on their matchups. So not the same spot for Allen and Hearst that they're typically in because these defenses are great. You got to give them credit. The running backs, though, you know, this is a great matchup for Barclay. He's, ironically, he might end up winning you your championship because he's just been really good lately.

And finally, the schedule lightened up. And this is a good match. It's funny. So last night, just starting to get the names together. I started putting together the all fantasy teams, the all bus team, et cetera. I think I sent you at him the tweet I sent out about who's the fantasy MVP. And Barclay is on the all-bust list, but like you said, he could still end up being a league winner. So that's going to be one.

I think that's somewhat controversial. AJ Brown's top 12. We talked about Devante Smith earlier. He's like 24th-ish, I believe. Devante Smith. So if you have Omari and Hampton, you go with him. You have Remandre Stevenson, you go with him. But you'd start him over, you'd start Devante Smith over like a Woody Marks, I assume.

For sure. Yeah. Blake Corum. Yeah, I'd go Smith. Buckie Irvin. I'd go Irving over Smith I have Irving a little bit ahead of Devante Smith

I do what we really want I mean he's getting he gets eight targets seven eight targets almost every week now it's crazy what we really want is the bills to score a lot of points so Jalen Hertz has to throw Dallas Goddard has the toughest matchup in fantasy so I think we'd start Dalton Schultz

and Juan Johnson over Goddard right yep would we start Colston Loveland over Goddard definitely if both both receivers are out. If burden is tracking to play, then that might change things. But Goddard is not a slam dunk start, nor should he be in this matchup. Would we start Michael Mayer over Dallas Goddard? No. But I would start Tongass over Goddard if Kittles out. I would too. Hunter Henry would also make the cut for me over Goddard. Any interest in Khalil Shakir? No.

not any higher than a low end flex okay all right let me see what we got in the chat for this game uh Brock Purdy or Jalen Hertz we said Purdy here's a good one Dallas Goddert

Tayson Hill or Hunter Henry and half PPR Henry Hunter Hurst Henry we're going Lawrence over Hertz Drake May or Josh Allen May I think I have Allen

like a notch higher than Mike Evans or Devante Smith? Evans. Yeah. Agreed. Evans or, sorry, Gainwell or Devante Smith? Gainwell. Kee-G.

And Fannin way ahead of Goddard this week, right? I think Fannie's three or four. All right, it started the DST. Any interest in a DST? Obviously not the bills, but how about the Eagles? I would take all the waiver wire options over the Eagles. So anyone that was borderline or available. Cool.

Lions over the Eagles for me. I'd stick with Philadelphia. Would you start the Giants, DST over the Eagles? No. Not me. Tampa Bay is at Miami. And Baker Mayfield is a guy we talked about a lot yesterday, actually, so I probably won't go too in depth here.

We talked about him in the tough calls. Dave is not as high on Baker Mayfield. He has him 16th. Jamie has him 11th. We know the deal. He hasn't been playing that well, although he's pretty close to having a, decent game last week.

Mike Evans didn't catch that ball on the end zone. Not that it was his fault. Next place, Sean Tucker runs it in. That didn't happen. You're talking about a 20-point game for him. Miami is putrid right now against the pass. So, Jamie's got him 11th. Baker Mayfield.

Dave has him 16th. And Bucky Irving, honestly, we talked about a lot of this game yesterday. So I just don't want to be repetitive. Listen to the tough calls. But Bucky Irving is, you know, top 20. Where did you end up with him, Jamie? at Bucky Irving? Like 22. I have a tough call in the FFT open because I want to start

McLaren over him because this is basically a best ball tournament. You know, so you got to maximize your points. And I don't know if Bucky, based on what we've seen from him, has the same upside that McLaren does if McClorin goes off, which I think he could against this defense. I wish the quarterback situation was better. So I put McClorin in. I took Bucky out and then I'll see how the weather is in Cincinnati and then I might put Bucky back in instead of Michael Wilson. Um, but that's kind of where I'm at with, uh, with Bucky right now. So you have him in most, like I have him in one, uh, one game this weekend where I'm starting him because I don't have a better option. So number two running back, but on the back end.

Yeah. You know what? I'm, I'm, I'm going to take a look at my Bucky Irving team and see if anyone cares about this, but I might have better options. So, um, not really. I would have to start Michael Carter over him. I'm not going to do that. And I would start Emmanuel Wilson over him if Josh Jacobs were out. Sure. That's where I'm at with with Bucky. I just wish he would catch the ball. I mean, I could deal with the goal line stuff,

and he'd be a confident number two back. If he would catch the ball, he was getting 15 plus carries and three-year catches. Okay, then you've got a floor. But he has one catch in his last two games. I'd rather have the touchdown roll. What's that? I'd rather him be the goal line guy.

I think so, but that's, you know, you don't know if they're going to get down there. It's a little less pretty, but either one, if he had either one of those roles, let's say that. He honestly, based on what he did last year and what he's capable of doing, he should have both of those rules.

Yeah, he does hurt. And that's what's making him very frustrating and why he's just the number two fans. Along with his inefficiency, you got to say that he's just not the same type of back as he was last year. And he's playing through injuries and other things. And that's what's slowing him down.

But against Miami, I wish that he had the goal line role. I'd feel a lot better about him. Certainly wouldn't have him at like 19 in my running by ranking. Right. Okay, Dave, how do you feel about the Bucks wide receivers? Mike Evans has had a 37.5% target share in each of his two games since returning from injury. Stud, top 12-ish type of wide receiver, figure he scores.

Again, he's taking on Miami. It's a pretty favorable matchup. I don't want to jump right back in on a Mecca O'Buka just because the coaches are saying, yeah, we need to get him more involved. They've been talking about building up his confidence. It feels like for a month now. And I don't know if giving him more targets is necessarily going to result in anything different than what we've seen since mid-October, November. Let's call it November.

So I feel like he's no better than a flex. I would rather start guys like Troy Franklin, Khalil Shakir. Jalen Wall, I'm not as high on as Jamie is, but I would easily start him ahead of a Mecca, Abuka. Godwin's real close in my rankings to Abuca. I think they're back to back. And so to me, it's Evans as the slam dunk. the other guys, if you're kind of desperate. And Waddle is the second best receiver in this game.

It's a tough call. But I see questions about Abuka, and they said they want to get him involved. He ran 50% of the routes. To me, he's like Rico Dowdle. I just couldn't even consider. I mean, I guess he'd be like the gluten-free pancakes. You have to do it. But I couldn't concern.

I don't think you do. I don't think you do. I mean, if you have, I'm sorry, if you have to do it, then it is. But that's the, you'd have to be in a situation like, I have no choice but to start a Beka. Well, I'll tell you, I got to one championship in a three-seasoner league when my running backs are carrying me. And I'm benching him for Brian Thomas this week. I just think there's more upside for Thomas at this point based on what Abuka has shown us since Evans has come back. And the funny thing is about, yeah, we want to get him more involved.

Well, you go back to the stretch of games before Evans was there. He was basically getting eight targets per game, and he was doing nothing with them. So there was that four-game stretch before Evans came back. They were trying to get him involved. Now, the quote is, you're taking a portion of it. They said they want to get them involved early in the game. Yeah. So maybe some early opportunities, and that leads to a big player to.

And the fact that the, like, this could blow up because the, in my face, I'll say, because the dolphin's secondary has been bad since Mika hasn't been there. And this isn't a chance for a big time get right game for the Bucks passing attack because of how the dolphins have looked in the last couple of weeks. But you just have to go based on Abuka's struggle. So he may have a big catch, could have a big touchdown catch. I hope he does for people. that are still starting him, to your point at him.

But I just think the numbers bear it out that you just can't trust him right now when everybody's healthy. We just have not seen that with Evans back on the field. Let's go to the Dolphins here. Start A. Chan and Waddle. So he had nine targets last week, five catches for 72 yards,

did a nice job getting open against DJ Turner. And when the dolphins have to throw, you know, his target share is usually good. They've just been so run heavy. But I don't know that that was because they were winning a ton. I don't think they're going to win. They're five and a half point. underdogs here.

So that plays well. And I feel like viewers did fine. He was... Yours did much better, I think, than anybody anticipated. Mike McDaniel was talking about this, that he missed, he said he, I heard one of his quotes yesterday. He said he missed Waddle on what it would have been an explosive play. You know, he said he talked to Quinn.

He wished he had to throw back. But clearly there's the effort to get Jalen Waddle involved here. And that's the best part. Whenever he's been involved, he's been productive. And I think, to your point, Adam, they're going to be chasing points, have to throw, not that you're getting away from A-chan, because he's just, amazing um but this could be another game where we see close to 30 plus attempts from their quarterback and that's just been i think the biggest problem for wallo was too was not throwing the

ball and if you heard their offense coordinator or i think it was our office coordinator uh was saying um the difference between tua and and you or is it really came across like a huge insult but he kind of qualified it was when the ball leaves their hands it gets there differently um yeah it's true uh and and that's just you know He said, too, it has to anticipate more. You know, Quinn can get the ball there a little bit faster. And so I think that's a plus for Waddle. I was impressed with Jalen Waddle last week.

I thought that was one of his best games since Tyreek has been out. And I was not anticipating that at all because of DJ Turner, because of Quinn yours. And I'm excited for Waddle for this week. Not as a top 10 guy where we were ranking him for the most part after Tyreek went down. But chasing points, good matchup. I think he comes through with a solid day. 21st for Jamie, 29th for Dave. Can you give me 30 seconds or less on Waddle?

I'm nervous that he's not going to get the same type of opportunity and workload that he got last week and that maybe they do try and spread it around a little bit more against Tampa because Tampa Bay's defense is so bad. And it just, he had nine targets. He had 12 PPR points. Now, if you're saying that that's the floor for Jalen Waddle, okay, then he's a flex for sure. but do I really think he's going to come through with the upside? I'll be honest.

I haven't looked at it as much as I should have at this point, but he's probably somebody who's just safest as a flex. Okay. And Darren Waller, you guys do not have ranked that high. He only had seven fantasy points against the Bengals. But, you know, three catches or 40 yards on five targets. Let's read some questions.

You guys have him 18th and 16th. Heath likes Waller, though. Abuka, Dowdell, or Michael Carter, PPR. I'll take Carter even with no catches last week I probably have doubt will rank the highest of the three but not Abuca pick two Evans

Sutton McLoran Jennings first two Evans Sutton yeah I might take Joanne Jennings with Sutton okay does the Ricky Pearsall thing

change anything that he might play Dave it would change something sure no Abuka or Tracy and PPR Tracy, just keep in mind that Pearsall may play and Kittle might not, so that's That's true Let's see, Waller, Tyler Warren, or

Brenton Strange. Strange, and that's another tight end I would start over Goddard as well. Okay. There's a tough one. Waddle, Pitts, Swift, or Gainwell, PPR. Wow. It's got to be Pitts. I think it does have to be Kyle Pitts.

Does it? I mean, Gainwell has, what, six or six or six? seven catches and like four straight games or something um i mean yeah that's a tough call i'd love to go back to it i'd love to know um i got rid of it oh no here it is like waddle pits swift gainwell i'd love to know if jeff is in a non-tight-end starting league you know league we don't start tight end like you're playing pits as a flex because unless you have mcbride at this point or fanon or kiddle like you know you're should be playing coppitz the the connection with kirk cousins at this point is undeniable.

Pitts is a tight end two total points on the season. Not points per game. Wow. Okay, let's go to Jacksonville at Indianapolis. How about this? The Jaguars, this is what kind of made me, because I was sitting there really struggling about the Colts wide receivers. The Jaguars are number one in points per game allowed in their last six games.

Third and yards per play. No, per game, second in yards per play. They have faced some bad offenses, but they were great against the Chargers, they were okay against the Cardinals, Tennessee, Indianapolis, Jets, and at the Broncos. Only one of those teams that scored more than 20 points. So the Jaguar's Renaissance has not just been Trevor Lawrence, their defense has played a lot better, too. All right. Jamie talked about the wide receivers and Dave as well, and one question for each game.

Kobe Myers is the guy to start. Myers or water. Is Jordan Lewis been ruled out already? I don't know. Who? Jordan Lewis? I'm not sure. I'll look at the injury of port and see.

Jalen Waddle or Jacoby Myers? Kobe. Waddle for me. All right. Trevor Lawrence is top six. He's fourth for both of you guys. You know, if you have a question about you start him over Josh Allen. We like Trevor Lawrence this week.

Travis E.N. is top 10. He's actually not running very well. Yards per carry has been pretty low basically every week. But he has scored 15.7 or more points in seven of his last eight games. If Bejel Tootin plays, Jamie, would you drop ETN out of the top 12? Would I drop ETN out of the top 12? He's 10th. Probably not.

I mean, it's just he was great with Tutin, you know, and I don't know how much work Tutin's going to get. So I don't think that that's a huge factor here. The only thing I think you should be concerned about with E.T.N. and it didn't really materialize in the Jets game. Now, granted, Tutin was hurt in that game is a blowout and does ETN get pulled. So. Well, I think you'd have to worry about that with Lawrence, too.

This team is 27th in pass rate in their last seven games. They typically don't throw that much, and they've been winning a lot, and they're six and a half point favorites. So, all right, that's just something to consider. they haven't needed to throw that much. Myers is the must-start guy. He's the only must-start wide receiver in this game.

We'll look for some chat questions about the other wide receivers that might help contextualize it a little bit. Dave, your thoughts on Brenton Strange? Jamie's got him 9th, but you're a little cautious. You got him 15th. Thoughts Strange against the Colts.

Yeah, I understand that the matchup is great. I'm nervous about what his role will be in the game. There are some comforting factors I think fantasy managers might like about Strange. The fact that he's had basically a 70% route run rate in each of his past four games. It's been almost 75% in 3 of 4. And the numbers have been pretty good.

How much throwing do they do? How much pressure will Trevor Lawrence have? I feel like a lot of the connection between Strange and Lawrence comes, certainly in the red zone, and that's always a possibility no matter who they play. But also whenever Trevor Lawrence is under duress, he's trying to get the ball out quick. I think that's part of the reason why Strange and Washington had the games that they had last week.

Another reason why Washington had it, just as an aside is because the Broncos just couldn't wrap him up. Anyway, I think he's a good low-end tight end, not a great low-end tight end for this week. I think you just look at matchup is fantastic, had six targets in the first game, just didn't score touchdown. So when you start to look at who's got good matchups

and who's going to get opportunities, I believe they didn't throw the ball very much in that game either. That was the game where Daniel Jones got hurt. So his target share must have been fairly good. I don't know. I'm pulling it up right now. Let's take a look. It was three weeks ago.

was 19.4%. He's pretty much never going over 20% target chair, Brenton Strange. It's not a great target chair. It was 20% last week. It was 19.4% three weeks ago. So that's good. Two of the last three weeks, but typically it's 16%

or so for Brenton Strange. And remember, he hasn't played barely any game. There'll be in two games, actually, where Parker, Washington and Brian Thomas Jr. and Jacoby Myers were all playing. So we don't have that much of a example. In fact, ironically, was that the first Colts game? No, I don't think. Yeah, the first Colts game, there were four different Jaguars with at least six targets. Strange was one of them. He had three catches for 27 yards.

Yeah, that's the target. The matchup is great for both of these passing offenses. Just the target share is what you worry about there. All right. Don't start Philip Rivers. All right. Hey, Jonathan Taylor. He's not the best running back in this game. according to you guys he still has him fifth but he is the number 22 running back per game in his last five games and these are all bad matchups i sent out the all fantasy teams last night the first three teams and i have taylor as the flex over eight hand and i got a little push pushback on that because it's what have you done for me lately obviously and a chn has been much better but it's like how do you not reward the guy for the first half that he had which was i mean he was MVP conversation. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. But look, we said it. We saw the matchups coming up really bad, one after another, and it's played out exactly as we, as what your worst fears would be. So, I mean,

even the guy, Dave, who was so bad against Jacksonville, last time out, I mean, is that maybe it's a little bit of a stretch, but 11.4 fantasy. Taylor was so bad against Jacksonville? 11.4 fantasy points.

He was bad, sorry. Yeah, I had a fumble. 21 carries. You got to throw that game out, though, because Jones got hurt in that game, and then it was Riley Leonard like all right he's still over the last five games number 22 running back in PPR he's not nearly as explosive of the runner as he was earlier in the year i do like that philip rivers is going to continue to throw to him though and that just adds that floor that you were talking about earlier in the show at him that you were wishing for bucky irving well john and taylor's got it and all it takes is for him to break one or two long runs and then his efficiency looks good again it is a tough matchup but i don't see how in the world you get away from a running back with you this kind of upside getting this much work week to week.

So is he a top five running back? No. Is he a top 12-ish running back at worst? And you might be inclined to go with one of the rookies. There's Harvey. There's Gentie. There's Hampton, especially if it's full PPR ahead of Jonathan Taylor. But it's not going to be by a lot.

And I wouldn't get cute and start remandre over him. I'd still rather start Taylor. But it's not going to be, this isn't going to be a game where I think he goes out there and it's 20 carries, 150 yards, and three touchdowns. That would surprise me. Yeah, but would you start the Steelers running backs over him? No, I'd start Taylor. If Warren is ruled out for whatever reason, then Gainwell to the moon, yes.

But if he's not, which we're not expecting him to do. You'd start Taylor? Yeah. Okay. Okay. So let's see if we have some questions here about the wide receivers. Well, first of all, Lawrence or Stafford? Man, that's close, but I'd go Stafford.

I have Stafford ranked ahead of Lawrence. If you're squeamish about the Rams sitting Stafford for any part of their game on Monday because they'll have nothing to play for, then I think you have to go with Lawrence. Okay, pick two, Lawrence, Stafford, or Burrow? Burrow and Stafford. Those are my top two quarterbacks this week. Brian Thomas Jr., Justin Jefferson, Debo Samuel, Troy Franklin, pick two. Those are not my top four wide receivers this week. I would go Thomas and Jefferson reluctantly.

I think it's easier to do both of those receivers in this instance. You know, it's funny. The upside for Franklin isn't bad. The upside for Debo is real bad. Even though he's playing Dallas, I have a tough time with Debo Samuel. You look at that team, that's obviously a super flex team, and you're like, man, those quarterbacks are awesome. Yeah, I know, right?

Purdy or Lawrence? Lawrence. Trevor. Parker Washington or Luther Burden if he plays? I'd probably go burden, but it's tough just because we don't know what his status will be for Sunday night. Agreed. Tyler Warren, Brenton, Strange, or Colson Loveland?

Strange. I have Warren the highest of the three. Tyler Warren or Dalton Schultz. Shultz. Dalton. Tyler Warren or Tassum Hill. Warren. Warren, but that's close.

Tyler Warren or Theo Johnson? Warren. Yes, Warren. Warren or Kobe Parkinson. Warren. Warren or Darren Waller. Warren or Dallas Goddard. Warren.

I'll take Goddard. If you want to be encouraged for Warren, he has a 23% and 25% target share in two games with Philip Rivers. and the Jaguars DST is absolutely in play. They've been really good lately. They are 10th for Jamie, six for Dave,

11th for Heath. All right, guys, got three games left. Let's see if we can knock them out in about 10 minutes here. They're the easiest games. There is Drake May, though. Just keep in mind with the Colts.

Rivers is doing a great job of avoiding sacks. He's getting a ball out so quick. It's true. New England's at the Jets. So, Ramandre Stevenson, we love. He's 15th-ish. We're playing this with as if Travian-Hennyson and we're not in.

I've already asked several questions about what, you know, be the case if he were in. So please listen to the one question for each game. Please play, Trevian. Please play. Yeah, I know.

I feel you, man. All right, Drake May is seventh for both of you guys. He's fourth for Heath. He's just ahead of Jalen Hertz. He's behind Trevor Lawrence. He's been really good in blowout wins. And this game is actually kind of close last time

for at least three quarters. But when they've blown teams out, He scored 27 or more fantasy points several times. He's been really, really good. So start Drake May, but he's not like top five. He's just outside. Diggs. Jamie, you love Stefan Diggs.

Well, you like 20th. Dave, you have him 23rd. He has him 26th. I mean, go ahead. I think you said, I'm sorry, because you said it earlier today, Jamie, at the top of the show. But in 30 seconds,

why do you like Stefan Diggs this week? May not have Kashan Bouti, went over 100 yards against his team the first time. This defense sucks. he's four-catches away from half a million dollars. He's 131 yards away from another half a million dollars. Like, he's going to get his chances to make that money. If Dave, if Kisham Booty were to play, would you move Diggs down to him 23rd?

Not much. Okay. Because I think Jamie's got a good point about Stefan Diggs and what his motivations are at this point in his career. This is going to be the week where, like digs stinks and colby parkinson's great you know because they both were so opposite of what we expected last week and then we're going to buy it there's been a lot of weeks like that lately i think and they just in i know we'll talk about tomorrow parkinson is facing the defense that gives up the least amount of touchdowns too tight yeah yeah they just did the tramac bride yeah but look yeah but

yeah but eliza higgins well because they allowed elijah higgins to make those plays they were not allowing trade mcbride to make those plays yeah uh okay mac hollins Matt Collins or a wide receiver, how would you compare him to the non-Jacobi Myers wide receivers in the Colts Jaguars game, Jamie? Matt Collins, who's... I have him right there with Washington and Pittman and Downs. I think, you know, once you get past for me,

Myers, Thomas, and Pierce, based on what they've done and should be able to do, Hollins, based on his target opportunities, are definitely in the conversation for these other guys. So in the two games that Kishan Bouti missed, he scored at least 10 PPR points in both. He had 15 targets in those two games. And then you look at the last two games. He has, I think it's 13 combined targets in those matchups with Bouti on the field.

So we're leaving the game last week. But he's a guy that Drake May leans on. It's one of these players that you're never going to feel comfortable starting. But if you're completely stuck, you know, if you were to get word that this team's resting or that team's sitting guys like you can kind of pencil him in for around 10 11 ppr points if he scores you'll be thrilled about that so matchup is good opportunity will be there if booty's not there um but there's a that sounds funny um there's a there's a chance for him to be a starter in three receiver league so i wouldn't overvalue him but i do think like oh my god

i'm stuck matt collins is a good plug and play i think a 10 ppr point expectation is realistic he also has a contract incentive he's four catches away from $400,000. Okay, that's Matt Collins. He better than Adonai Mitchell? He's safer, and I Mitchell. There's not a much upside. Right, right.

I would rather start, but it's really close. I think there's plenty of upside just because Drake May completed seven of ten passes of 20 or more air yards last week. Obviously, Kyle Williams had the big one, but that could always be Matt Collins. Okay, Hunter Henry is seventh for you guys. We like him. He's just kind of solid. solid. You know, he rarely gives you a bad game. It has to be a bad matchup for a bad game.

Scored eight and a half fantasy points against the Jets last time. And the Jets are 21st against tight ends. And they've struggled recently against the Kyle Pitts and Joanne Johnson. On the other side of the ball. And Taysam Hill, yeah. Just take the receptions. Tasef Hill had three of his six targets out of the backfield. He's lined up as a running back. So it's a little deceiving. but he did have three catches otherwise, which is kind of a lot for him,

or at least three targets. Four targets. Four catches, six targets. But no, overall. We have... Taysam Hill last week had six targets and four catches. Okay, so what I'm saying is... Like, we'll talk about that when we get to that game.

But he only had one catch as a tight end last week. That's fair. Three of them were running back. Hunter Henry's three catches away from 250K and eight catches away from another 250K. So within the next two weeks, he could make half a mill just by catching the football. I would say that you do have to be a little bit worried about the upside of Henry,

Hollins, and even Stefan Diggs, if Traviann Henderson's active. Because that means that the Patriots can lean into their run game that much more, because they'll have two good running backs that they could use against this terrible Jets front, and it might take away pass attempts from Drake May. I don't think that's the wrong thought. However, this feels like especially Mike Vrable is a former player, and knows what those incentives mean and you even go back to the days

when, I guess that was in Tampa Bay when that happened with Gronk, but I imagine Robert Kraft is not going to be upset if they come out and try and get those guys of their money. Sure. Especially with the season that they're having. So this could be a throw to score, run to win type of game for the Patriots, where they pass early and run late

and get these guys, especially the ones that are chasing. They're so close to all these incentives, it's not going to take much. You know, digs for the second half a million and, you know, 131 yards. That's a big ask for him in one game, but not out of the realm of possibility against the Jets. But what do you say?

Henry's two catches away? He's three catches away. Matt Collins. Three and eight. Three and eight. Matt Collins is so close. Diggs is four catches away. Like they're going to get this this week.

And that's fine, but they could also get them next week. This isn't the last game of the year. Oh, but they may be resting guys next week. They might play a half and finish off whatever incentives they need. Or Robert Kraft can say, I'll just give you the incentive. of go ahead and rust easy.

Now, listen, this could be a bad run defense right now for the Patriots, especially they don't get Milton Williams back. But it's hard to trust Breece Hall. He's outside the top 24. He's 24th for Heath, 26th for Dave, 29th for Jamie. He's just not playing well.

Brady Cook hasn't been throwing to him. The Jets are an absolute mess, and they are going to have most likely a bad game script here. So I rego Dowdell is someone I can't stand right now, but would you start Dowdell or Breece Hall? Doubtle. all right i'm i think i've got down higher but i'm not i start michael carter over him i'd start blake quorum over him like i can't trust breeze hall right now all right now all right here's a

question real quick every fear i had from the beginning of the season is playing stuff up dac drake may josh allen pick two i'm sitting allan i'm sitting may as him now okay digs or jamo i'm sorry james and williamson williams so i i moved jamison ahead of digs after just thinking about the receivers can still get their numbers, despite Jared Goff not scoring touchdowns. But that is very close. All right, guys, two more games. Seriously, I think we can do these ones pretty quickly.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland and New Orleans. You said that before we started last? It didn't really work for the Patriots game. But we'll try it for Pittsburgh at Cleveland. The only Steelers that we're considering here are the running backs, and we like them quite a bit. But for the passing game, if you were going to gamble on one guy, Dave, in their passing game, who would it be?

Adam Thieland. Okay, not Friamuth or anything like that. Definitely not Friamuth. I would probably go with John O'Ber before Friar Muth. Okay. I'd go Washington over both. This, by the way, the Cleveland Browns at home, they lost by one of the Bengals,

they beat the Packers, they barely lost to the bills, they destroy the dolphins. This is kind of a sneaky trap game here. Okay, but this... Unless Baltimore loses. If Baltimore wins, then... no either way it's a trap game right well i mean if if baltimore loses then the stealers don't

give a shit excuse me that was accidental that wasn't even yeah i'm in the christmas spirit i'll forgive you uh yeah but right but then it would be a tough game all right so warren so remember we talked about that at like 15 minutes in the show if you want to hear our thoughts on the clinching scenarios but you guys like i'm sorry you like warren or gainwell better, forgot the answer. In PPR, I go game mode just because the receiving core being what it is. This Brown's run defense is so bad that they're both going to do well, but I'll take Warren.

All right, yeah, I'm excited. I'm starting both of them in one league. Now, if Trayvion Henderson plays, I might I think I might still start both of them, but that's going to be a tough call. It would be Warren versus Trayvion for me, but we like these guys. Would you start any Brown? Fanon is like tight end three or four. Jamie, would you start any other rounds? And he might be tight end two. by the time we get to Sunday.

With Kittal, yeah. Jamie, any other Browns, like the running backs, for example? I'm excited that Dylan Samson's practicing, you know, so hopefully he's out there for two reasons. One, I think he could be a decent flex this week, so he would be my favorite Browns running back if he does play. And two, I want to see what this looks like, because we don't know when Quinchon Junkins will be healthy next year coming back from this injury. You know, it's going to be very difficult for him, and hopefully he's 100% by the time training camp starts. But Samson has looked good at times, certainly has been very good as a pass catcher. And again, you script this game out while chasing points and, you know, being involved.

Last week, Trayvion Williams had four catches. I think Samson could be a poor man's Kenneth Gainwell this week. You know, so six plus catches would not be surprising or six catches would not be surprising. And hopefully, you know, 60 to 80 total yards on top of that, there's a good desperation play here. if he's the guy. I'd be a little bit nervous to trust the other two because I don't think Rahim Sanders is going to run very well against Pittsburgh

and I don't want to trust Trayvion Williams in this role just because of what he did last week. So I'm hopeful for Samson. I'd be a little nervous about Samson at the goal line, but otherwise everything else is spot-on, co-sign, agree, might even crack the top 24 if we know he's for sure going to play. If he plays, would you start Dylan Samson or Breeze Hall?

Samson. Yeah, like I might take the chance on Samson. Michael Carter or Dylan Samson? Samson. I probably would go Carter just because I think you know what he's going to do versus questioning what Samson will do, but there's more upside with Samson for sure. Samson are the commander starting running back?

So you've got to make a call on this today versus waiting out Samson. So if Rodriguez is your best option, then you start him. I would probably see if you can pivot. So what I would do honestly, if you really want to wait out, Dylan Samson, play the pass catching running back for the Browns, whether it's him or Travion Williams and just give up on Rodriguez. You can drop Rodriguez before the game.

Oh my gosh. Starting Travian Williams in your fantasy championship feels like... Yeah, that might be... I'm sorry. Chris Rodriguez has been such a slam dunk. But you don't even know that he's going to be the... You're saying if you had both Samson and Travian Williams?

That's what I'm saying, yeah. So risky, but... There might be somebody else a running back that you could pick up besides Traveon Williams. No, you're right. I mean, Rodriguez and a PPR, that you could get you five points. Here's what I would do.

If Quinn and Williams is out and Rodriguez plays, I'd play Rodriguez over Samson. If Quinn and Williams is in, I would not play Rodriguez and I'd wait out the Browns Pass catching running back. If Chris Rodriguez is out, you have your answer. All right, let's go to our last game here,

and it is the Saints at the Titans. And Tony Pollard or Dylan Samson? I would go Samson. It's definitely possible with Samson. just knowing the role and the opportunity that he could have is going to be better than Pollard. But only in PPR. Not half, not none.

Only full PPR. Okay. Yeah, I'd agree. Pollard, we talked about yesterday as a tough call. The non-tuff calls in this game are Chris Olave and apparently Jawan Johnson. Olave is obviously a start. Juan Johnson is sixth for Dave, Jamie, and Heath. So good stuff there.

I don't think we want it. Like the Titans run defense has been so good. And they've gotten healthy. They're dominant. right now so you don't want to start estimate and it also affects tasem hill it's not going to be able to run that effectively probably on tennessee this is the number one run defense in yards per rush allowed 10 yard rush rate defensive total rush EPA over the last four weeks wow and it's not a coincidence it's a health thing they've gotten healthy and they're really good it's it's a

jeffrey simmons thing it's also what is to vandre sweat is that ronre sweat is like a giant like he would be like the champ in WWE if he were a wrestler he's just so huge Dave who would you start Tyler Shuck over I would start Tyler Shuck over Baker

Darnold DART Stroud Bryce Young and then all the other crummy quarterbacks that could pop into your head top 15 QB for me and I am starting him in a championship

Wow as am I over Jared golf oh man I wouldn't do that I'd go golf I think golf has more upside But I lost my homes. It's a deep league. I was desperate. Shuck is who I'm rolling.

You're lucky because if you started Mahomes today, he'd be horrible. Yeah. If you were playing. He may have more touchdowns in Jericho. We'll see. Boy, is that going to be fascinating to watch. And anyone on the Titans in the passing game, Cam Ward or Chimery-D-K or Chig O'Conquo? I mean, I think Oconquo might qualify as a sleeper.

I just don't know like how desperate you'd have to be at tight end because he's got six or more targets each of his past two games. He's been getting red zone targets for those in his last two games. He's, this isn't a great stat. It's just okay. Maybe you think that this is the floor form. When he's had five or more targets this year, he's had eight and a half or more PPR targets most of the time, five of eight games.

So, and he's playing. a decent amount. He's not bad at tight end. I think Brenton Strange is better. I am not coming out on Tayson Hill being more of what we saw last week. I think last week was an isolated thing. And I would, I think I'd rather lean toward Ocockwo than I would Tayson Hill. Okay. So, Saints, DST, we got some questions here. Saints or Chiefs? Saints. For sure, Saints. Saints or Browns? Saints It's the Saints Unless we find out

Before the game on Sunday That the Steelers are going to rest everybody And I agree with those answers But just a cautionary tale for the Saints They had eight sacks last week Which is impressive But they're typically not very good And the Titans have been

The last three defenses that have faced them I'm sure we've recommended all of them Yeah of course Cleveland, San Francisco Kansas City They were all terrible One interception in their last seven games They've scored 24 more points in four of their last five games.

So I understand if you have to start the Saints, but, you know, they're not that great of a start, I don't think. All right, that's it for today's show. Merry Christmas, everybody. And, yes, definitely start the Patriots over the Saints for you asking in the chat. Merry Christmas. We'll see you tomorrow. It's starter sit for the NFC home games. Enjoy the games today, and let's go next.

See ya. Paramount Podcasts.